Warriors top Phoenix 44-29
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Websterville's Leo Dutil, center, and Andrew Shuman compete with Sharon's Sam Wood for a rebound during Wednesday's Division IV semifinal at the Barre Auditorium. The Warriors won 44-29. STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
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By PETE HARTT TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: February 26, 2009
BARRE — As a freshman, Andrew Shuman has a lot to learn.
But what he knows already was enough to take Websterville Baptist Christian School to the Division IV boys basketball championship game for the first time in 13 years.
Shuman scored 10 points, pulled down nine rebounds, blocked eight shots and bothered The Sharon Academy into a 24 percent shooting night as Websterville scored a 44-29 semifinal victory.
Shuman's 6-foot-7 presence in the lane prevented the Phoenix from taking advantage of its penetration, while at the other end of the court WBCS scored the bulk of its points from in close from either Shuman or Steve Davis (11 points).
"Andrew has really improved at holding his position with his hands up and not jumping or slapping at the ball," WBCS coach Jay Ransom said. "It's very tough to shoot over him. Steve is a senior and he has great post moves – Andrew doesn't have the polish Steve does yet."
It was clear early that Sharon was trying to take the ball right at Shuman, and Evan Frank and others were successful at getting near the basket. But in the face of the looming Shuman, the drives too often resulted in wild shots or blocked shots, and only twice in fouls.
"We wanted to get in the paint and pump fake to get him up in the air," Sharon coach Tom Vashel said. "But he wasn't going up and we were settling for tough layups instead of kicking the ball out for good shots."
Shuman's impact on the game was immediate as he won the opening tap and got the ball to Leo Dutil, who fed Isaac Ransom for an easy layup.
Sharon then passed the ball out of bounds, and after Shuman missed a short shot, he blocked Frank on a drive to the basket. Websterville was up 8-2 four minutes into the game and Sharon had already missed three 3-point attempts.
Dutil hit a 3-pointer after another Shuman block and Shuman dropped in a half hook with nine seconds left in the quarter to make it 14-2.
Sharon tried to battle back through the second and third quarters and closed the gap to single figures four different times. But, with the Phoenix trailing by 26-17 with less than three minutes left in the third frame, Shuman blocked a shot back to Sharon. Sharon missed another shot and got an offensive rebound, only to have Shuman block another shot. Sharon retained possession, got fouled and missed both foul shots, then got another offensive rebound and missed a 3-pointer. The net result was a five-shot possession that lasted 35 seconds and resulted in no points.
Websterville scored seven consecutive points over the next two minutes and Sharon never recovered.
Both teams struggled from the foul line with Sharon hitting going 4-of-11 and Websterville going 14-of-21. The difference was from the field, where WBCS hit 46 percent, including three 3-pointers, while Sharon hit just 12 of 50 shots.
The victory put Websterville into the finals for the first time since 1996, when the Warriors lost to an unbeaten Twinfield team 56-44. On Saturday Websterville will meet unbeaten Proctor.
"It puts us back in the finals for the first time since that unbeaten Twinfield team," Ransom said. I guess we have that task again."
Shuman finished with 10 points for the Warriors, who also got 14 points from Dutil and 11 points from Davis. Otto Pierce was the lone Sharon player in double figures with 10 points.
Websterville 44, Sharon Academy 29
SHARON (29)
Frank 1 1-2 3, Young-Ward 3 1-5 7, Pope 0 1 0-0 3, Rogers 0 0-0 0, Wood 2 0-0 4, Pierce 5 1-2 11, Crocker 0 1-2 1, Landry 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 1 4-11 29.
Websterville (44)
Collins 0 0-0 0, Ransom 1 1 2-4 7, Shuman 5 0-5 10, Joe Tetreault 0 0-0 0, Burbank 0 2-4 2, James Tetreault 0 0-0 0, Dutil 3 2 2-5 14, Davis 5 1-3 11, Tillas 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 3 7-21 44.
Sharon 2 9 8 10 — 29
Websterville 14 8 11 11 — 44
Three-pointers: S – Pope. W – Dutil (2), Ransom. Fouled out: S – Wood. W – None.
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